The low-budget spook show at its surreal finest, Herk Harvey's film has inspired plenty of horror films throughout the years. Boasting some haunting visuals and a manic performance by Candice Hilligoss some 50 years later, Carnival of Souls is still a fascinating case study that should be a guide to any aspiring horror filmmaker out there.

The Moment That Changes Everything:

When Hillgoss' Mary starts wandering around the abandoned carnival location on the edge of her new town, you know things are about to get funky. The carnival scene holds plenty of creepy sites, and the folks who arise to terrify her do a lot to make the film great.

It Makes a Great Double Feature With:

I'm cheating a little bit here, because I first saw this film on a double feature DVD with Carnival of Souls. But I still think that 1960's Hotel Hell (aka, The City of the Dead) shares an eerie tone with the film, and the doomed female lead is just as helpless as Mary is in Carnival of Souls. When it comes to low-budget black and white horror, these two films stand out as classics.

What It Means To Me:
Endlessly watchable and surprisingly profound, Carnival of Souls is a perfect example of how a little bit of ambition can make up for a laundry list of limitations. Like a lot of younger film folks, I saw this after other similarly constructed films (*cough*THESIXTHSENSE*cough*) - which dampened the surprise of the plot - yet it's the film I'm still thinking about many years later. Can't argue with that.

I absolutely love this film! Did you know Herk Harvey actually played the "lead ghoul", the one who is so hell bent on terrorizing her? There are so many terrific moments of quiet horror in this film, and together with that freaky organ music throughout just makes it such a worthy classic!